Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Escapees Rainbow Plantation, Summerdale, Alabama

September 6, 2020

Temperature 95 Degrees

GUMBO!

Worship At Our Home Church In Colts Neck

You Know You’ve Been In One Place Too Long When. . . .

Odds and Ends Around the Park

Oh yes today was the day!  Ms Barbara finally made me Gumbo.  Now if you are not from the south you may not know what this is.  Gumbo defined is:  a soup popular in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the official state cuisine. Gumbo consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and three kinds of vegetables ― celery, bell peppers, and onions.  She made a shrimp and crab meat gumbo and oh boy was it ever delicious.  I had it for breakfast and again for supper.  Thankfully she made a huge pot of it so they’ll be more for me to feast on this coming week.  No complaints from me regardless of how often you serve it to me.

Today being Sunday

We began by joining in worship with our home congregation.

Pastor Debbi began the service with the call to worship.

Our first song.

Lynn and Maggie provided the special music this morning.

Pastor Scott’s message was from the Sermon on the Mount.  The passage in particular were Jesus exhorts us not to worry.

Scott encouraged us to plan and prepare but not to become overly concerned about what we can’t control in the future.  He reminded us that worry only robs us of the joy of life.

Jeremiah 29:11 puts it this way:   For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Or as we have often said:  We may not know what is around the next corner of life, but we do know who will be there to see us through.  That is the God of our faith.  Trust in Him and He will lead you, care for you, and sustain you in all ways.

This was our closing song.  Our church goes back to live worship next week but they have made a commitment to continue on-line worship for which we are extremely grateful.

As for the rest of the day.

Back here is a storage area for rigs of all shapes and sizes.  Come back in two months and I can almost guarantee you this area will be completely empty.  All the rigs will be out and on sites.

Down this way you’ll find deeded lots and permanent residents.

This is the activity center, closed of course due to COVID-19

The pool behind the center, it is open and often has a few people using in.

Question, how do you know when you’ve stayed too long in one spot?

Answer, when the grass begins to grow over your steps and up and under your front cap.

Another day done on The Road of Retirement.  It is going to be bitter sweet leaving here in a few days.  We’ve enjoyed our stay and really like the area.  We’ve grown comfortable during our time here.  But it is time to get a move on.  We are so looking forward to being back on the road.  New adventures await and we’re anxious to see what is around the next corner.

Thanks for stopping by today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments. Keep safe, keep healthy, enjoy the days that God gives you.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and her two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Escapees Rainbow Plantation, Summerdale, Alabama

September 5, 2020

Temperature 94 Degrees

A Splash of Color

Island People

A splash of color – Flowers for Ms Barbara just because.

Today was another one of those easy going days

I pulled the grille back out and cooked up some steaks.  Ms Barbara cooked up a bunch of opinions and mushrooms to go with them.  The perfect meal.

Then we got to thinking back to where we have been over the years.  Specifically, the islands we’ve been to in the past.

This was our first island visited.

Barb on board with friends we met that day.  I wonder where they are today?

This was our second island.  The park we stayed at here was definitely a work in progress.  Checking internet reviews of the park today I understand it is just as rough as it was three years ago.

From Cedar Island we went to Oracoke Island.  

From Oracoke Island we went to the Outer Banks

Along the way the water got a bit rough.

Oh yea, it got really rough!

Moving up the coast to Maine yet another Island we visited.

The Visitor Center.  Among the many wonderful things I remember about this trip one stands out in particular – when we got ready to leave the car refused to start!  This is when we learned quite by accident one of its funny quirks.  The same thing has since happened again and again but this time we no longer panic because we know now what to do.

This is of course our latest cruise to an island.

Across the waters of Mobile Bay to Dauphin Island.

Each trip, each island, each so full of many special memories.  But now let me ask you Do you think we can truthfully call ourselves Island People!

So much for our day on The Road of Retirement.  We hope you had as great a day as we did.  We’re taking each day one day at a time and enjoying to the fullest each one that God gives us.

Thanks for stopping by today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments. Keep safe, keep healthy, enjoy the days that God gives you.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and her two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Escapees Rainbow Plantation, Summerdale, Alabama

September 4, 2020

Temperature 96 Degrees

Is It Really September

The Ultimate Road Trip

Getting Ready to Move

It seems hard to believe that it is already September.  In one respect the year has seemingly dragged on forever.  Yet in another respect it has gone by in a blur.  One thing is for sure, it will be good in the near future to say goodbye to 2020.

I spotted this RV while on the ferry and immediately my curiosity got the better of me.  What was it?  Where did it come from?  Where was it going?

Well, here is the make and model.  I won’t bore you with the details but I do encourage you to Google it and take a look.  It is a European design and it is really neat.  But wait, there is more!

Near the back of the rig I found this decal and now I was really curious.  When I did a bit of internet research I discovered one of several ultimate road trips.

Here are some of the highlights of this tour.

you travel in your own rig

it is a 180 day tour

The tour starts in Buenos Aires and takes you through South America, then Central America and next you travel through Mexico. The guided tour ends in Tombstone, Arizona, USA

you can then continue on your own and tour wherever you wish

The cost is roughly $21,000 – but wait you still have to pay for the shipment of your vehicle to the starting point as well as arrange your own airfare to get there.  You are also responsible for your own insurance, fuel, food, etc.

I encourage you to bring up their web site and have a look at this tour and others that this company offers.  Talk about some of the ultimate road trips.  But oh yea you really need deep, deep pockets for them!

This morning since we had to go shopping for staples, meat and other odds and ends we decided to start the day off with breakfast out.

As always we each had a delicious breakfast.  Ms Barbara had the breakfast sampler while I on the other hand went all out as well – scrambled eggs, country fried steak, grits, and hash brown casserole.  We both became members of the clean plate club by the time breakfast was over.

Breakfast over we headed on over to

the local Winn Dixie.  We decided it would be easier to replenish our freezer, cabinets, and underneath storage while we were here.  We have been to this store before and we find it to be one of the best.  The shelves are always fully stocked, the prices are very reasonable and everyone wears a mask.

The nice thing is we were able to do all of this and be back home before the real heat of the day set in.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  We’re both looking forward to getting back on the road again.  We’ll be traveling to a few new Florida State Parks in the coming months before settling in for the winter in Sumter Oaks.  Ah yes, it has been quite a year.  We may not have been to all the places we first planned on seeing but all in all we’ve accomplished quite a bit and discovered some really neat out of the way places – like Cave With No Name.  We’re not going to complain, nope, because we truly believe we are blessed beyond measure.

Thanks for stopping by today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments. Keep safe, keep healthy, enjoy the days that God gives you.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and her two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Escapees Rainbow Plantation, Summerdale, Alabama

September 3, 2020

Temperature 93 Degrees

Fort Morgan Historical Site

The heat and humidity is back in force.  The next several days we’re looking at temperatures in the mid 90’s and humidity around 95/97%.  All you have to do is walk out the door, take one lap around Elvira and you are all damp and your clothes just cling to you like a wet towel.  Yuk!

Back to yesterday and our tour

of the Fort Morgan Historical Site.

The little booth where you pay your entrance fee.  I got in for free since I am a Veteran, and Ms Barbara cost us a whopping five dollars.

One of the first things you notice as you enter the parking lot are these flags flying in front of the visitor center.

Some history about the Fort.

Construction of the Fort took a total of fifteen years – 1819 to 1834

The total cost of construction was $1,026,777.41 – in 1834

The Fort as the Flags indicate has been occupied by six different countries or forces

Best known for the Battle of Mobile Bay, August 1864 (Union against Confederate forces) – the fort’s guns fired almost 500 rounds badly damaging some of the Union ships but failing to sink them.  The Confederate fleet was ultimately defeated by Union ships.  At this time the Fort was cut off from relief and faced a two week siege.  An overwhelming 24 hour Union artillery bombardment finally compelled the Confederate garrison to surrender.

1917 to 1918 – served as artillery training base for World War !

1924 – Fort was abandoned

1934 to 1937 – WPA put 500 men to work restoring the structures and ground surrounding the Fort

1941 to 1944 – U.S Army, Navy and Coast Guard operated the Fort as an ordnance depot and guarded against German U-boats in the Bay.

1946 – Fort Morgan turned over to State of Alabama as an historic site

OK, put your walking shoes on and let’s go take a tour.

Adjacent to the parking lot is a memorial to the men who fought each other during the Battle of Mobile Bay.

Surrounding the fort is a cleared area that slopes upward toward the fort which acts as both a defensive barrier and also protects the fort’s walls from direct artillery fire.

This is the main access tunnel leading into the fort.  Doors located at either end of the tunnel were closed during periods of attack.

This is the main entrance within the tunnel that marks the actual entrance to the fort.

A sad note as you look at these walls – labor for the fort resulted in a slave labor contract between the U.S. Government and slave owners in the region.  These men, women and children manufactured over 30,000,000 bricks as well as making the mortar as well.  At it’s height, over 200 enslaved persons labored either at the actual fort or within the brick yards and mortar kilns along the bay.

We are now looking down at the interior of the main fort.  The entrance tunnel is at the end of the concrete walkway.  The round concrete circle you see in the lower right is one of four circular cisterns that were constructed under the parade ground of the fort.  They were filled by collecting rainwater from the gutters on top of the fort.  In the center of the large green area there once stood what was known as the

The current Visitor Center is a miniature replica of the fort’s citadel.

These high arched ceilings or casemates were designed to be bombproof in case of an enemy siege.

From the beginning there were issues with the stabilization of the casemates.

One of the fort’s casemates was used for ordinance storage.

This is a gun emplacement that was constructed between 1898 and 1899.

This gun emplacement mounted two 12 inch breech-loading rifled guns.  The guns were mounted on

disappearing carriages that lowered the guns behind a protective concrete wall into the pit shown above.  There they  were loaded and primed for firing.  The guns were then raised again into firing position.

Adjacent to the main fort you will find two additional batteries

This is Battery Schenck.  Completed in 1900 it had two rapid fire guns (the rust colored items in the above picture).

The battery protected the mine field in Mobile Bay that was located directly in front of it.

These are the two types of mines that were placed in the bay.

This is Battery Thomas.  Constructed in 1898, this concrete gun emplacement also protected the mine field located across the entrance to Mobile Bay.

There you have it, a snapshot of historic Fort Morgan.  I found it to be a fascinating piece of history that I really enjoyed exploring – despite the heat and humidity.  But be forewarned

there are stairs everywhere!  I made all of them but

this set absolutely got the better of me.  After I watched one couple literally crawl down on their butts I passed on these.  I think back to those who served here and who probably double-timed up and down them and I take my hat off to them.

If and when you are ever in this area do take the time to tour the fort.  It is a fascinating piece of history that is worth your time to explore.  Be mindful of the stairs.  And do take a bottle of water with you whatever the temperature.

So another day is in the books on The Road of Retirement.  We’ve enjoyed our time here though we wish there had been more to do and see.  We’ve made a number of new acquaintances.  Now, though, our sights are shifting toward Florida.  This time next week we will be there.  So the task at hand now is to get ready once again to move.  We have some shopping to do.  A few minor projects yet to complete.  Its time to go.

Thanks for joining us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments. Keep safe, keep healthy, enjoy the day that God has given you.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and her two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!